Proteus
by Seldavia
Summary: Samus is betrayed by someone she thought was a friend. Rated for language and creepy behavior.
1. Chapter 1

"_Captain, everyone's set! Come on!" the first mate shouted._

_The captain stared out at the rolling waves. So far from port or another ship, and he could not be sure anyone had heard his message. "Go on, hold the last boat for me, I'm coming!" he yelled in response, and switched on his radio again. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday - Mayday - Mayday…"_

Samus awoke with a start, reaching for the controls and switching off the screen with the outline of Earth maritime history. A set of coordinates came up, along with an irritating wail that sounded more like a siren than a distress call. Grumpily Samus reset her ship's trajectory for the coordinates, wondering what had possessed the Federation to use a crying baby as a distress signal. Obviously the person who had chosen it had never so much as held a baby. Samus had tended to a few children during her days at the Federation Academy, her employment coordinator determining that being female must make her good with kids. Regardless of some obvious blunders, she did manage to learn the difference between cries of fear, hunger, pain, or mere discomfort. The sound chosen for the "Baby's Cry" was that of an infant that had soiled itself.

Typical, Samus thought with a wry smile. Shit happens, and I get called in to clean up the mess.

The signal led her to a small station orbiting a lesser moon in one of the Andromeda systems. By space station standards, it was ancient. The dock was designed for ships much larger than hers, back when even small fighter vessels were designed to be three times the size of her own, due to the outdated fuel they needed to use. It surprised her that a place like this would still be in operation; she thought it would have had a few holes knocked in it by now.

As she approached the dock, she noticed a Federation vessel already there, idling. Samus switched on her comm. "Federation cruiser, this is Samus Aran, responding to distress signal. Didn't hear an all-clear, are you handling the situation, over?"

No reply.

Samus frowned. She made a quick weapons check and prepared to exit her craft, when a cacophony of chattering burst from her sleeping chamber. Samus sighed; etecoons were such a handful. They had helped her several times in her various missions, but like their Earth monkey counterparts, they seemed to enjoy causing trouble as much as helping out. She double-checked the locks so that the rescued creatures could not get out, then opened the door in the ship's roof. She examined the cruiser first. After giving it a quick once-over, she concluded that it was empty and awaiting its crew, which must have gone into the station. She headed over to the station doors and found them unlocked.

Proceeding carefully down the hallways, she noticed that the station had been stripped several times over of any useable materials, by both the station's original owners as well as Space Pirates. She could not even be sure that this station was still registered with the Federation. And yet she had only seen the one other ship outside. She had run across a few space transients, making a living in abandoned bases, but this one seemed devoid of even the most basic needs for more than an overnight stay.

Suddenly her comm picked up human voices. "…haven't met up with Frederickson's group yet, we circled the place and didn't find them."

"Keep looking. We know those Pirates are here. They may have modified this place, put in secret rooms, not to mention traps."

Samus's heart leaped. She recognized the second voice - her old commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. Loner that she was, she still enjoyed hearing a familiar voice now and then.

She walked forward until she saw the two men in Federation gear in front of her, and waited for them to acknowledge her presence.

Adam turned and smiled warmly from under his helmet. "Ah, Ms. Aran! This is a pleasant surprise! You couldn't have come at a better time. We responded to a distress signal, only to find no one here. We split up into two search teams, and one of them has gone missing."

"I heard you say something about Space Pirates. Did they attack someone here?" Samus asked.

The other officer shook his head. "No, we think it's just the Pirates."

Samus frowned. "Pirates sent out a Federation distress signal?"

The other officer did not reply, but turned to Adam, who said after a pause, "We believe the Space Pirates sent out our signal in an attempt to ambush Federation-allied vessels. They've done it before…the ship attempting to help ends up getting hijacked and looted." He grinned wide. "I don't think they were expecting soldiers, or you for that matter. I was thinking maybe you could come with us and make sure that second group is okay. In the meantime we'll make a sweep for any Space Pirates. Any objections, Lady?"

"Not at all," Samus replied, adjusting her arm cannon slightly. "Lead the way."

The two of them followed the other officer, who introduced himself to Samus as Alworth. They walked without a word through the corridors, lighting every dark corner and following each light beam with the promise of a blaster or cannon. But after going through half the station, they found nothing, and not a sign of the other group.

Samus tapped at the walls of a small alcove where a comm deck had once stood. "There really aren't a lot of places to hide, and I'm not picking up any infrared signals or signs of altered walls."

"We're coming close to where we last saw the others," Alworth said. Unlike Adam, he seemed nervous despite the extra firepower on his side. Samus wondered if he was a rookie. It had been a long time since her last visit to the Federation and there had probably been a number of promotions since then.

Suddenly they heard a crash and a bang, and six bulky shapes came flying into the room from the other corridor. "Here they are!" Adam shouted in triumph as the three of them fired on the Space Pirates. Five of them went down in a matter of seconds, but one of them dodged past and fled into the opposite corridor. Samus caught it in the back with a blast and it fell.

Another Federation officer appeared, holding his plasma rifle tightly. "Commander Malkovich! It's good to see you! The Space Pirates have Enson trapped in the far wing. I managed to get these away from him, but he can only hold his position for so long!"

"Understood. Let's go!" He turned to Samus, who stood examining the corpses. "Something wrong, Lady?"

She frowned in puzzlement. "They're unarmed, and one of them just ran without attempting to fight."

Adam made a dismissive sound. "Likely cowards, exiled here, or maybe ambushing freighters is the only job these few are any good at. Come on, let's clean them out!"

She followed, but wondered where Adam would get the idea that Space Pirates would suffer cowards of any kind in their ranks.

The officer they had just met pointed to a blocked hallway full of debris. "Enson's in there. The Pirates blocked this entrance when I tried to follow. Then those other six attacked me."

Adam nodded toward Samus. "You're the only one who can fit in there. Go in and see if there's another path for us."

She hesitated, then shifted into Morph Ball form and rolled through the gaps. Since the beginning, she had sensed something odd about the situation. As soon as she had enough room to stand, she unrolled and charged her cannon, taking a quick look around.

A small room, with another door on one side. No one in the room, Space Pirate or human. Unlike the rest of the station, this room had shiny new equipment. Samus recognized medical machinery from times she had recovered in the Federation medic wards, as well as the portable gurney, though this one had been bolted to the floor and was larger than those used for humans. Her skin crawled. Something about this seemed terribly out of place…

The first sensation was not painful, but rather that she had been turned to stone. Her feet seemed glued to the floor, her body frozen. A split second later she felt the ripping, tearing pain as an electrical current seared through her body, unhindered by her suit. Samus could not even cry out; her tongue cleaved to her palate and her teeth ground shut.

Sparks danced before her eyes, then turned to dark circles, and then the world went black.

She awoke staring at the ceiling, briefly wondering where she was. When she blinked, she realized that there was nothing between her eyes and the metal above her; her helmet was gone. With a start she attempted to rise, but her body came up hard against something hard and unmoving. She turned her head and saw her clenched hand held down on the gurney by steel restraints - her bare hand, clothed only in her blue undersuit. Out of instinct she lunged against her fetters, but of course nothing happened.

"Ah, you're awake." Startled, Samus turned to see Adam calmly standing there, with a friendly smile.

"Adam, what's going on?" she demanded. "I was…there was a current in the floor, I passed out…"

He nodded solemnly. "Yes, you were injured. Your suit started behaving strangely, so we had to remove it. We weren't sure if it was you or the suit, so we kept you tied down while you slept, just in case."

"Well, I'm fine now," Samus told him with a sigh of both relief and exasperation. "Let me out, please."

"I'm sorry, but we need to keep you under observation," Adam said kindly. "The current gave your heart quite a shock. We just want to make sure you're ok."

"What about the Space Pirates?" Samus demanded.

"They have been eliminated, and we found Enson. He was injured too, but I sent him and Alworth and the others back to the ship. It's just you and me." He had a slight glint in his eye that passed so quickly, Samus wondered if she had imagined it. "Apparently, the Pirates had found this equipment but had little use for it, and held it as a kind of bait for any other scavengers that came sniffing around their little hidey-hole. The electrified floor they added later, I assume, ready to snap on their unsuspecting prey. We're lucky it was medical equipment, aren't we?" He gave her a genial smile.

"Yes, wonderful. Look, Adam, I'm fine." Samus shifted restlessly. "I'll lie down if you insist, but I don't really need the restraints."

He made a light little laugh. "Sorry, Lady, but I know you too well. When have you ever obeyed when I asked you to rest? It's just for a few hours. Take a nap, and I'll get us something to eat." He gave her a little salute as he disappeared through the door.

Samus stared up at the ceiling. Something about this wasn't right. Maybe Adam did have her best interests at heart, but as she lay on the gurney, sleep was the last thing on her mind.

She shut her eyes when the door opened again, and pretended to flutter awake when she heard Adam's steps on the floor coming toward her. "Sleep well?" he asked when she focused on him. "All I've got are energy bars, I'm sorry to say. Not very appetizing, but you'll feel better after eating one." He sat down on the nurse's chair next to her and unwrapped one, holding it in front of her face. "Go on."

Samus gave him an odd look, as if concerned for his mental health. "Uh, Adam? I can feed myself. Take off the restraints."

The energy bar stayed hovering over her mouth. "You need to rest. Come on, take a bite."

"Just take off one of them, then!"

"No. Open up, Samus."

Finally she snapped. "Knock it off, Adam! What the hell is wrong with you? Take these damn restraints off and I'll eat the damn bar myself!"

His genial face hardened. "The restraints aren't coming off, Samus."

"Why the hell not?"

"I'm under orders."

Her blood froze. "Under orders for what?"

He set the energy bars down on a small table and stood, pacing as he talked. "It's not something I want to do, you understand? And if you work with me, maybe we can stop it from happening."

"Stop _what_ from happening?"

He turned to look at her. "The Federation is after your blood, Samus. Literally. The Chozo DNA - they want to extract it, they want to inject Federation Marines with it, and give them suits that mirror your own. They want an army of Samus Arans, all under their orders."

"It doesn't work that way," Samus snapped. "Chozo blood isn't some kind of magic serum, Adam. You know that. How about we skip to the 'stop it from happening' part?"

"Well, that depends on you, Samus," he replied. "If you follow my instructions exactly, I can get you out of this."

"For how long?" Samus demanded.

"Not sure. Depends on the situation. Could be days…or months."

Samus cursed. "Look, just give me back my suit. Here's what we'll do. You let me go, and tell the Federation I overpowered you. Not that hard, and pretty damn believable. They can't blame you for that, and hopefully they won't ask you to do something like this again."

He sighed. "It's not that easy, Samus." He picked up the energy bar again. "Here, you'll need your strength."

"To hell with the damn bar!" Samus shrieked, surprised at how her own voice rose in pitch. "Take off these fucking restraints, dammit! Snap out of it, Adam!" She lunged against the cold metal.

"Samus, Samus…calm down," he said in a soothing voice that seemed oddly out of place. "You don't have to shout. There's no need for that here." He bent his head down over her and she flinched as he touched her cheek. "No more bravado between us. We both know you're just a scared little girl."

Her face registered confusion and disbelief, then flashed into full-blown rage. "What the FUCK?" she sprayed into his face, unable to form a coherent thought.

He wiped his face with the back of his hand. "All right, I know you're not an idiot. You can see the position you're in, and there's only two ways out of it. The first is to donate your body to science. Neither of us wants that. The second…"

Samus froze as he touched the lower part of her neck, tracing her collarbone and slowly moving his hand lower. After a brief moment of stupefied horror, her instincts rushed back and she thrashed around on the gurney. "Get off! You-" Here she unleashed a blast of rage in both Chozo and Federation Standard, with a few choice Space Pirate phrases for good measure.

He lifted his hand and in a flash had both pressed against her neck. Samus felt the vessels in her neck pounding, her lungs burning as she fought for air. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I don't think you understand the situation you're in. I hold your life in my hands."

Her face turned blue as she choked, arms and legs jerking and mouth open in her desperate struggle for oxygen. Dimly she could register his face moving closer to her own. As she realized what was about to happen she clamped her teeth down hard. She was rewarded with a cry of pain, her throat released, tasting blood in her mouth that was not her own.

He struck her hard across the face, but she did not care, too focused on filling her lungs with air. As she gasped for breath Adam stood with hands clenched in front of her, a little thread of blood running down the side of his mouth. "I suppose I should have expected this," he said more to himself than to her. "You always were a fighter. Stubborn, too. Of course, that was always part of the appeal…"

She coughed, taking in shuddering gasps of air. "You…were you always…all this time…!"

"I'll leave you alone to think it over," he said, wiping the side of his mouth. "You have one hour. I had better have an answer from you by then. Remember, even if you don't care for my idea, the Federation's is much worse." He left.

Samus shivered. To think she had trusted this man, seen him as a friend! She felt a flash of horror and disgust as phantom hands touched her again, unwanted and unclean. She had never felt this exposed, not even when fighting Space Pirates without her Power Suit. At least then she could move. And had a weapon.

She had to get out of here. And soon.

* * *

A/N: Before anybody accuses me of Adam-bashing, take note that I have a Good Adam story in the works in addition to this Bad Adam one.


	2. Chapter 2

Samus gritted her teeth as she tried once more to force her hands out of the restraints. A few disputes with other bounty hunters had given her the opportunity to learn a few tricks of the escape artist's trade. She pressed her fingers together, trying to squeeze her knuckles past the cuff that held her in place. She wiggled it into different positions, even pulled until she could feel the metal taking off skin beneath her undersuit. No use.

She let loose an exasperated snort of frustration and stared up at the ceiling. No way in hell was she going to go along with Adam's twisted idea. She wasn't about to become an experimental subject for the Federation, either. Samus strained against her bonds in agony. She had single-handedly destroyed whole planets, laid low the Space Pirates as a one-woman army, and yet she had been foiled by a pervert and a few strips of metal!

A skittering sound caught her ear and she froze, tense. Some creature had gotten into her prison through the little hole. She hoped it wasn't anything poisonous, or an eater of human flesh.

With a deft little hop, a furry bluish creature appeared on the gurney at her feet. Samus's eyes widened in surprise as she recognized one of the etecoons she had rescued. "How did you get out? Oh, never mind! Listen, little friend, can you help me escape?"

The little creature sniffed the air, ears up, as it turned its head back and forth. It picked its way over Samus's arms and legs, staring intently at something she couldn't see. As it reached her head, she attempted to get its attention. "Come on, now, you want to get me out of here, right? Is that why you came?"

Raising its head, the etecoon sniffed the air again, then hopped over to the machinery. Samus nodded in tense excitement. "That's right, go to the control panel. Go on, it's right over there, the release button should be easy enough to-"

The etecoon picked up the energy bar Adam had dropped and began munching happily. Samus scowled. "Oh for the love of…that's what you wanted?" She cursed at it and it paid her no mind, its little face radiant with happiness as it enjoyed its treat.

It picked over the wrapper for every crumb, then held out the wrapper to Samus with an expectant look on its face. Hope began to return as she realized that it saw her - a human - as the purveyor of this kind of food. "You want more, huh? Is that what you want?"

The etecoon stamped its feet and chattered excitedly.

"Okay, you can have a whole damn box of 'em, but you gotta get me outta these restraints." She wriggled her arms and legs for emphasis. "I can't find any more food for you if I'm tied down here, right? So go over to the control panel and…no, the control panel!" she snapped in exasperation as the etecoon leaped over to the gurney and started pulling on the restraints. "No, you idiot! Over there!" she jerked her head in the direction of the controls.

It stared at her, then in the direction of her gestures. It had managed to find a way out of her ship, so surely it understood buttons? Perhaps it had merely tripped something by accident. Samus's hope began to wane.

But the etecoon leaped over to the panel and examined it with interest. "The release button," Samus said, even though she knew it couldn't understand her. "The green one, see it?"

It scratched its head, then stretched out its hand with great purpose and pushed a red button.

Immediately the restraints slammed down hard on Samus's wrists and knuckles. "No, you stupid moron! The release button! THE RELEASE BUTTON!"

The etecoon made a sharp yip and slammed its hand down on the controls. Samus felt the gurney release her and she leaped to her feet. "Finally!" she said as she massaged her sore wrists.

Waving the energy bar wrapper, the etecoon chattered at her in an admonishing tone.

"Yes, yes, we will get you some food, but first I need to get my suit back and get out of here."

It screeched.

"No! Suit first, then food! Now be quiet or Adam'll find both of us."

Resigned, the creature followed behind as she opened the door and peered cautiously out. Apparently nobody had heard their yells, or had dismissed them as mere frustration. She stepped quickly and quietly down the corridor. Without her sidearm, she had little to no chance of winning a fight. The etecoon made little mutters of disapproval, but she silenced it with a glare.

Samus took note of the few hiding places the abandoned station offered her. So much had been scavenged, even air vents looked like yawning chasms that gave no protection. Nothing to hide behind, no abandoned weapons to pick up…"

"Ah!" In the debris of a dismantled control station, Samus found a dusty, abandoned wrench. She hefted the solid metal in one hand. Not much use against Federation troopers in full battle gear, but even without her Power Suit she was strong enough to knock someone over the head through their helmet. Not enough to kill, but certainly enough to send someone to sleep.

Footsteps. Samus doubled back to the nearest hiding place, cramming herself into a little niche. The etecoon copied her, squeezing between her legs, apparently enjoying the game. She waited, and finally Adam appeared, walking with purpose back toward her prison. In one hand he carried a stun gun. Samus held her breath.

The etecoon made a happy cry and before Samus could stop him, it leaped toward the next possible purveyor of food. She froze as he turned, staring in puzzlement at the creature clamoring at his feet.

"Get lost," he snapped, and gave it a swift kick. The etecoon retaliated by leaping up and savaging his face.

Samus took this moment to escape, Adam's yells echoing behind her. She had almost made it to the next corridor when she heard and angry shout. "ARAN!"

She heard a loud crack as the stun gun missed her and fizzled against the metal wall. She doubled her speed, taking corridors at random, until she had heard nothing for quite some time. She slowed, stopped, and caught her breath.

Sitting down, she took a few moments to assess her situation. In her favor, there were no surveillance cameras, otherwise Adam would have known immediately that she had escaped once she exited the room. On the other hand, she had no idea where her suit was - and now that Adam knew she was out, he was likely standing in front of it with that stun gun. She doubted she could throw a wrench accurately, so she had to either overpower him right there or find a way to draw him away from her suit.

Samus glanced up at the air vents. Space stations of this type used an outdated air-recycling system. Adam could get oxygen from his Federation battle suit, but it would only last for so long. She had seen no oxygen cylinders here, so he likely would have to go back to his ship to get one. Samus, on the other hand, could easily survive in oxygen-poor air. She traced her way back to the dock, then smashed the door control with her wrench. Now only someone with a Power Suit could get through the door.

Next, Samus headed for the air scrubbers. She made her way through the heavy machinery that powered the station until she reached the long, high columns that transformed carbon dioxide into pure oxygen. As she tore apart the delicate machinery with her wrench, alarms sounded throughout the station. After a few minutes - enough time for its inhabitants to realistically evacuate - the alarms went silent and in their place, the lights changed color to a dull red, bathing everything in a crimson hue. Samus took her position behind one of the generators and waited for Adam to appear.

She could have waited hours or minutes. A few times she wished she could search for something to eat - she'd had nothing since she left the planet where she rescued the etecoons. That was the equivalent of a good twenty-four hours ago, if not more. But she needed to know exactly where Adam was, so she could avoid him and find her suit. She had a good idea of where it was being kept, a room they had passed with a long hallway. Only one way in and out. He had likely chosen it because he could see her coming from a long way off. So Samus waited, tense, crouching in the blood-red light.

Finally she was rewarded with the sight of Adam entering the huge machinery room. But just after entering the door, he stopped. Samus cursed silently to herself.

"Aran, I know you're here," Adam called out through his battle suit. Samus noted with horror that he now carried a plasma rifle, not a stun gun. "This is your last chance. Come out and surrender, and I won't hand you over to the Federation."

Samus said nothing. She waited, the blood ringing in her ears.

He hefted the plasma rifle. "Samus. You need to stop running. There's no need to be afraid of me. We were always friends, and we still are. I was just…a little eager, that's all. There's a lot…I've wanted to tell you, for a long time. I won't do anything you don't want."

Samus shivered. He began walking slowly, casually, calling out to each hidden corner in turn. His voice took on that strangely out of place, calm manner, like a parent talking to a child. "I know you want this too. You're just afraid. It's all right, you don't have to be afraid anymore. I understand you, Samus. You weren't raised by humans, so you don't know how to act around them. I'm right, aren't I? But I've known you for a long time, and I know how you feel toward me. It's time to come out of the dark."

With a scowl, Samus wondered how long Adam had been hanging onto this delusion. She had respected him, certainly, and considered him a friend, but he had never fulfilled the role of potential father or lover. The thought made her ill. How many times had they clasped hands, stood back to back, fought in close quarters with him thinking this way? How long had he been plotting a way to get her out of her suit?

"Samus," he called out, a hint of impatience entering his voice, "I just want to talk to you. All right? We'll just talk." He raised his rifle over his head, then placed it on the floor and stepped away. "See, I'm unarmed. Now come out, please."

She shook her head even though he couldn't see it. She had seen him employ this tactic all too often, in hostage negotiations. It always ended the same way, with her tackling their opponent once the talk was over. Now it was she that he wanted to force to the floor. He was not far enough away from the door for her liking, but she knew that he was running out of patience. She inched back toward the door, wondering how much time she had until he started shooting.

As if he could sense that he, too, was running out of time, he called out, "Samus, I know about K2-L."

That shocked her. She had only told him that her family had been killed by Space Pirates, a common enough story among Federation recruits. Somehow he had found out the exact time and place. He knew the year of the raid, he knew how old she had been when…

"You were only three, weren't you? You know, when you first told me about the Chozo, I thought you had only been with them a few years. But they raised you, didn't they? You lost your parents so young. You probably don't even remember them."

Samus's heart burned. Why was he bringing this up? Yes, she did remember her original parents, though it was not something she liked to dwell on. She considered that role filled by the Chozo.

"It's the reason you always go after the Pirate Captain, isn't it? Even if he's not the main player in whatever they're doing, correct? He was the leader of that raid. Ridley killed your family. And you've killed him several times over, yet somehow he always comes back."

Fear gripped her. Could Adam really read her this easily? Was he just pretending that he couldn't see her? Her eyes darted to the door, to him, and back again. She raised the wrench, her heart pounding.

"You can't fight it alone, Samus. I want to help you. The both of us, we can eliminate them together. He picked the rifle back up, moved toward her. "You and I, together. That's what you really want, isn't it?"

Samus leaped out from her hiding place, wrench raised. With a shout he brought up the plasma rifle to fire, but she smashed the wrench down on his shoulder. He bellowed in pain and a string of curses followed her as she darted out the door and down the hall, all pleasantries gone. "You bitch! You fucking bitch! I'll get you for this, you godddamned cunt!"

She sped down the hallways, heading as fast as she could toward the narrow hallway. Inside the little room was one small container, and she forced it open with her wrench. With a great sigh of relief she removed her helmet and began putting on her Power Suit.

She walked with confidence back the way she came, heading toward the dock. She stopped abruptly as she heard cursing to one side, and stared as Adam placed himself in front of her. "The Federation can't have you. You're mine."

She frowned, both confused and disturbed, and raised her arm cannon. "Move aside, Adam."

"Going to kill me, Samus?" he asked softly. "You're nothing without that suit, nothing! You don't have the guts to kill me. You're just a little girl in a big suit of armor. Just a scared little girl."

"I don't want to kill you. Now move aside."

"You don't have the balls!" he shrieked, his voice rising several octaves. He spread out his uninjured arm. "Go ahead, take your best shot! No? Come on, you pussy! You toothless bitch!"

Samus's arm shot out and she shoved him aside. "I've had enough of this, Adam." She made a few steps forward and then turned back. "Maybe I did see you as a kind of second father, once. But I've outgrown you." She kept walking.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" he screeched, and ripped open the chest of his Federation armor. Samus's eyes widened as she saw the huge number of explosives strapped to his chest. "If I can't have you, no one can."

Samus had only run two steps when the explosion threw her forward. Her suit registered one alarm on top of another. Life support critical. Bomb and missile weapons inoperable. She grasped the warping walls as the hole that Adam had torn into the station ripped it apart.

As the strip of metal swung to one side, she spotted her ship. Hurtling through space, she let go of the station and tapped the controls on her cannon. Like an obedient animal, the ship followed after her and nudged up against her, waiting for her to board.

She clambered inside, taking note of numerous gouges on the outside of the back of her suit. She dimly registered the dozen or so etecoons jumping in excitement all over her and the controls, including the one that had freed her from the gurney. She shifted her ship in gear and blasted out of there as fast as she could.

She glanced back, half hoping she would be able to find Adam's body, or what was left of it. She did not know what had caused this madness of his, could not believe that he had always been this way. At the very least he deserved a proper burial, regardless of what he had done. But she could see nothing except twisted metal.

She turned away from the scene and focused on her next move. It could be that the entire story about the Federation hunting for her blood had all been a lie. Yet, she knew that Adam had never told outward lies. He might have hidden or twisted the truth, but he never outright lied. Even at the very end.

Samus shifted her controls, setting a course for Aether. There were no Chozo left, but perhaps she could get some advice by those who had known them. In any case, she felt that she wanted nothing more to do with humans for a very long time.


End file.
